Astrology and alchemy – the occult roots of the MBTI

Psychologists and managers may be surprised to discover that the origins of the world’s most widely used psychometric instrument lie in pre-modern systems of knowledge.

Editor’s Note: this article offers good insight and background on the four elements of astrology and how these along with alchemy played into Jung’s work.

Cascading good governance through the organisation

Implementing a sustainable corporate governance code needs to reflect workforce attitudes to corporate propriety. A snapshot of the UK employee population suggests there are major challenges ahead.

Marvin Bower

Like so many other management concepts…the value of the fact-founded approach depends on the degree and effectiveness of its use. My observations convince me that only the most successful companies really use facts adequately and with full effectiveness in developing strategic plans and making decisions. Too many executives get fixed attitudes on common issues, typifying the cliché, “My mind is made up-don’t bother me with … [ Read more ]

Marvin Bower

The business with high ethical standards has three primary advantages over competitors whose standards are lower:
1 . A business of high principle generates greater drive and effectiveness because people know that they can do the right thing decisively and with confidence. When there is any doubt about what action to take, they can rely on the guidance of ethical principles. Inner administrative drive emanates largely … [ Read more ]

Marvin Bower

The results of organizational planning are pictured in organizational charts, with their boxes and lines of authority. But organizational planning really deals with the actions, ambitions, emotions, and personal effectiveness of people. Whether or not the actions of individuals are effectively harnessed to achieve the purposes of the business depends largely, I believe, on how well the plan of organization is fashioned and how resolutely … [ Read more ]

Competency and Work Execution

Many organizations have recently initiated competency programs. However, it is important to be current on what works and what doesn’t in the definition and use of competencies.

A Conversation with Mary Lou Quinlan, Author of Just Ask a Woman

The founder and CEO of the premier consultancy dedicated to women’s marketing, Quinlan has personally interviewed 3,000 women — uncovering profound and enlightening truths that can’t be learned from traditional research.

Marvin Bower

Organizational planning is concerned-in management jargon-with the duties, responsibilities, authority, relationships, and personal requirements of positions. This kind of planning harnesses and legitimizes power. It also helps to contain illegitimate power.

Even a perfect organizational plan won’t control all the imperfections of human nature. But a defective plan can be counted on to bring out the worst in people and to raise costly havoc in … [ Read more ]

Marvin Bower

To be sure, an organizational plan is restrictive. In fact, all managing processes are restrictive, for their purpose is to guide people’s efforts toward effectively attaining the objectives of the group, and in a sense all guidance is restrictive. If people are to pull together rather than work at cross-purposes, some harness is needed-and better a planned harness than a tangled one. With a soundly … [ Read more ]

Peter Drucker

In a well-managed enterprise, it is understood that people who fail in a new job, especially after a promotion, may not be the ones to blame.

Constrained Change – Unconstrained Results

History teaches that to get lasting results from a change program, it is vital to begin with a vision of the future and create incentives that motivate people to achieve those ends.

Editor’s Note: focuses on the “Conflict of Visions” view of economist Thomas Sowell (Unconstrained vs. Constrained View)

Learning Styles

While the notion that people learn differently is hardly new, it has been David A. Kolb, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Weatherhead School of Management, who has encapsulated the idea in recent years. Initially on his own and then working with Roger Fry, Kolb put forward a cycle of learning. This article, which serves as an introduction to theworkingmanager.com website offers a nice overview … [ Read more ]

Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works

Semler, the Brazil-based CEO of Semco, believes corporations and employees can become successful by bucking tradition and thinking wildly outside the box. He attempts to explain Semco’s success (a company with $212 million in annual revenue and “no official structure… no organizational chart… no business plan or company strategy”) and how its principles can be applied in other companies to make working environments more appealing … [ Read more ]

The Centerless Corporation: A Model For Tomorrow

For businesses to thrive amid the formidable complexities of their new environment, an entirely new type of corporation is called for that is distanced from the excessive levels of command that companies have become comfortable with. That corporation must have a much stronger focus on the basics of what ultimately creates value: knowledge, people and coherence. It must evolve toward a new business model (the … [ Read more ]

Keith Yamashita

Every organization’s problems [can be viewed] through the lens of a system in balance. Purpose is at the center of a universe orbited by five components: strategy, culture, people and interaction, metrics and rewards, and structure and process. A company gets stuck when one component is off-kilter, or when the process and the system are misaligned.

Overcoming Barriers in the Business World: Glass Breakers

Are women in business still expected to exceed expectations? What should women ask before accepting a job offer? What does Tupperware have to do with women’s lib? Can the number of women on corporate boards really quadruple in the next decade? What does it take to smash through a real, honest-to-god glass ceiling? And what does a businesswoman resemble more: a windmill or a fax … [ Read more ]

Rethinking the Organization: New Structures for Global Competitiveness

In our view, too many companies are still designing organization structures on the basis of principles that are no longer appropriate. Companies today must operate in complex and fast-changing environments – particularly if they want to compete on a global scale. In this article, we outline a new way of organizing people for effective performance in just such environments.

The Mission Statement Book: 301 Corporate Mission Statements from America’s Top Companies

America’s most successful companies, from Ben & Jerry’s to Federal Express to General Motors, rely on their mission statements for essential vision and guidance. In what the Washington Post has hailed as a “landmark” volume, Jeffrey Abrahams offers a selection of over 300 mission statements from America’s top companies and provides detailed advice on how to craft one to suit the needs of your organization. … [ Read more ]